Widow Files Suit Over Pension Claim

October 21, 1988

CHICAGO — The widow of a Chicago Fire Department lieutenant who died of a heart attack on duty in 1985 filed a class-action suit in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday charging that the retirement board is miscalculating her pension benefits.

Anastasia Rogers, widow of Lt. Bernard Rogers, who died in the 21st Battalion station at age 61 after more than 30 years with the department, charged that the pension board is calculating her pension based on what Rogers` salary would have been at age 63, the current retirement age, instead of age 70, the retirement age when Rogers died.

Anne Burke, Mrs. Rogers` attorney, said the decision lowered her client`s monthly pension from $2,392 to $1,521. Burke also filed the suit on behalf of other widows whose pensions were reduced because of changes in the retirement age, which went from 63 to 70 in 1983 and back to 63 last Jan. 13.